Alaena nyassa, the pied Zulu, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.[2] The habitat consists of riverine woodland, grassy places in savanna regions, montane grassland with rocky outcrops, forest margins, heavy woodland and rocky streams.
| Pied Zulu | |
|---|---|
| |
| In Adalbert Seitz's Fauna Africana | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Alaena |
| Species: | A. nyassa
|
| Binomial name | |
| Alaena nyassa | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Adults have been recorded nearly year round, except June and July.
The larvae feed on cyanobacteria growing on rocks.
Subspecies
edit- Alaena nyassa nyassa (Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe)
- Alaena nyassa major Oberthür, 1888 (north-eastern Tanzania)
- Alaena nyassa marmorata Hawker-Smith, 1933 (Democratic Republic of the Congo: Haut-Lomani and Lualaba, Zambia: Copperbelt to the east and north-east)
References
edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alaena nyassa.
Wikispecies has information related to Alaena nyassa.
- ^ Alaena at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and some other life forms
- ^ "Afrotropical Butterflies: Lycaenidae - Subtribe Pentilina". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2012-09-21.